Monday, July 2, 2007


Rolls-Royce offers a solid-silver pen and key fobs with the Phantom to celebrate 100 years of exceptional stealthiness.
BY JARED GALL, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN SEGAL AND THE MANUFACTURER
One hundred years ago, Rolls-Royce was a make renowned for its superb reliability. Its great achievement? A Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost drove back and forth from London to Glasgow 27 times, covering 14,371 miles without mishap, a feat modern Rolls-Royces might have difficulty matching. The Silver Ghost got its name from the original car’s silver bodywork and, in the words of a company exec at the time, its “exceptional stealthiness,” a characteristic the company continues to master today—when was the last time you saw one? (Angelenos don’t count.)
To honor the 100th anniversary of the Silver Ghost, Rolls-Royce is painting 25 Phantoms silver and selling them for about $44,000 more than the already ludicrous $338,350 entry price.

Of course, the special paint is just the beginning. Following the illustrious footsteps of distinguished special editions to come before it, such as the Toyota Camry Hybrid 50th Anniversary Edition and the Ford Expedition Funkmaster Flex Edition (which we maintain really ought to be called the Funkmaster Flexpedition), the Phantom Silver receives unique instrument faces, scuff plates, chrome center caps on its 21-inch wheels, and a choice of exclusive leathers in the interior—Roseleaf or Crème Light—one of which appears to be a rather misleading term for “black.”
Just Another Special Edition? Well, Yes, but on a Rolls-Royce Scale.

This being a Rolls-Royce, there is far more car and far more finery to be customized, and that is what separates this from more banal special editions. Did the Warner Bros. Edition Chevy Venture come with two solid-silver key fobs? You bet your diaper bag it didn’t. How about silver-trimmed tumblers and champagne flutes? Any of those in the 40th Anniversary Edition Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG? No, there weren’t. Not even a bottle of cheap spring water.

But wait, there’s more! Drop the equivalent amount of money for a huge house in the suburbs for the Phantom Silver, and Rolls will throw in a specially commissioned solid-silver Conway Stewart pen, absolutely free! From the maker of fine writing instruments worth up to a damning $21,000, this pen is heavy enough to knock out your chauffeur and is perfect for signing away your soul. The Chrysler PT Street Cruiser Pacific Coast Highway Edition didn’t even come with a blue BIC ballpoint.Then again, people who pay $21,000 for a car, rather than a pen, probably are better liked by their neighbors. If you really think you need a $21,000 pen or a $382,000 luxury car, maybe you do. More likely, though, you need one to run you over.

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